Financial Times 12,934 / Phssthpok
This puzzle is none-too-easy. In the allotted time, four clues are still to go. Can’t put on the thinking cap all the time! I am sure my friends will fill me in. Across … Read more >>
Guardian 24,554 – Rufus
Straightforward monday puzzle, lots of typical Rufus cryptic definitions. c.d. = cryptic definition d.d. = double definition * = anagram << = rev Across 1. STRATUS. ST(R)ATUS 5. FULCRA. c.d. 9. WEAPONRY. OPENWAR* … Read more >>
Independent 6898 by Radian
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone This was mostly fairly easy, but had a couple of clues that I struggled to understand even after I’d got the answer. My only criticism would be that there … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 378 – Guidelines
The theme this time is the recent 25A perpetrated by 5A/21 and 15A/8 which 8D and embarrassed the 11A. One of them has jumped ship before he 1D. The other has been suspended … Read more >>
Crossword Ends in Violence (5)
I’ve received an email from James Cary, a TV and radio comedy writer, who has written a novel about the crossword controversy surrounding the D-Day landings (which was talked about in the recent … Read more >>
Azed 1903
A relatively easy Azed for me this time around. That means I did it easily in one evening after dinner, I suspect Peter B could have polished this one off within 30 minutes. … Read more >>
Guardian 24,547 (Sat 15 Nov)/Araucaria – Playing Cat and Mouse
Solving time: 13:40 An enjoyable puzzle from Araucaria, with a couple of strange clues thrown in. Several clues refer to the Suffragette movement. * = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’. Across 1 … Read more >>
Independent 6,896/Nestor
It’s not often that I think that Nimrod isn’t the hardest weekday puzzle, but I really struggled with this one! I only solved 3 clues on my first pass and it took me … Read more >>
Guardian 24,552 – Gordius
Quite easy for a friday, I thought. Straightforward and well constructed, with a lot of anagrams. * = anagram dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition Across 7. LADIES MAN. ASEMILAND*. Never … Read more >>
Independent 6891/Virgilius (Prize puzzle 15-11-08)
A rare treat: Virgilius on a Saturday. About the same level of difficulty as we’ve come to expect from Virgilius and a theme of course: this time, it’s centred around two well-known phrases … Read more >>
Inquisitor 98 – Favourite by Loda
LODA is a regular contributer to the Inquisitor series and his (?) puzzles cover a wide range of subjects. This one took us into deepest Peckham in London. We were told that the … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 837: Hobson’s Choice by Syd Lexis
Being a natural pessimist, I had visions that my first blog would end up being for a puzzle by Dimitry, Kea or Oxymoron (Schadenfreude’s EV pseudonym), so seeing it was by Syd Lexis … Read more >>
FT 12,931/Falcon – Non-Darwinian Evolution
Another early upload online for the puzzle (thanks Messrs Editor/Webmaster) allows me the opportunity to blog promptly again this week. Nothing particularly byzantine here – other than my lack of familiarity with Mel … Read more >>
Independent 6895 by Nimrod
This was tough as Nimrod usually is, but I got there in the end. There is a Nina (hidden message) which helped me from reasonably early on – I refer to it after … Read more >>
Guardian 24551 / Brendan
I very much enjoyed this puzzle and personally didn’t find it nearly as difficult as the last couple of days. There are several references to the United States (7a, 26a, 1d, 3d, 18d) … Read more >>